BP Batam head Lukita Dinarsyah Tuwo said he had submitted proposal to the Law and Human Rights Ministry to allow his office to be the guarantor for foreigners visiting Batam, Riau Islands, on a social visit visa.

“We want it to be easy for foreigners, like how it is when buying property in Singapore and Johor,” he said on Saturday at the groundbreaking ceremony of apartment complex The Nove by developer Sinarmas Land in Nongsa.

The Nove is part of the Nuvasa Bay development.

He said a recent market survey showed that property prices in Batam were on average 30 percent lower than those in Johor Bahru and 15 percent lower than in Singapore.

Foreigner demand for property in Batam had been met by domestic developers, he said. But some improvements in the regulations were needed, he went on.

He said he and real estate business association Real Estate Indonesia (REI) had met with several related ministries to improve the ease of buying property in Indonesia for foreigners. The obstacles include the requirement for foreigners to have a tax registration number in Indonesia and to have a temporary stay permit (Kitas).

“Only foreigners working permanently in Indonesia have a Kitas, while the property market in Batam is attractive also to foreigners coming on a regular visit visa,” he said. “We want foreigners to absorb these luxury houses and premium apartments.”

According to Government Regulation No. 103/2015, foreigners are allowed to own houses or residences in Indonesia through a right to use, in which the assets can be inherited as long as the heirs have a stay permit in the country.

Foreigners are only allowed to purchase houses or residences with certain minimum prices, which are varied in each province, as stipulated in Agrarian and Spatial Planning Ministerial Regulation No. 13/2016.

For instance, the minimum price in Jakarta is Rp 10 billion (US$684,370) for landed houses and Rp 3 billion for an apartment unit. Batam, meanwhile, is categorized under “other regions or provinces”, which sets the minimum price at Rp 1 billion and Rp 750 million for landed houses and apartment units, respectively.

The head of Sinarmas Land’s strategic development division, Margiman, said the company targeted Singaporean and Malaysian buyers for its apartments.

Two apartment towers have been put up for sale, he said. Out of 172 apartments in Tower Kaina, 161 have been sold and 30 percent of them to foreigners. Out of 262 apartments in Tower Kalani, which have been on sale for the past two months, 51 apartments have been sold, with foreigners among those buying.

“I’m sure if BP Batam’s proposal is approved, we will get more foreign buyers,” he said, adding that the development concept was green building to match the foreign buyers’ aspirations.

Most foreigners buying property in Batam are permanent workers on the island or those who have Indonesian spouses.

Sukanti, the wife of an Australian who came to the ceremony to see the apartments, said the obstacles for foreigners like her husband were red tape and difficult requirements.

“On one hand, it is advantageous for me because all the property will be in my name, but my husband wants his name on the property as well,” she said.

Several other new properties, developed by Ciputra, Agung Podomoro, Sinarmas Land and Pollux Batam, are also ready to hit the market.

Batam city’s economic assistant, Febrialin, said over the weekend that many big developers saw Batam as a good place to build their properties.

“The regulations that need improving are at the national level,” he said.

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